The New York Mets are riding a three-game winning streak. However, they will have to try to continue this success without two impact bats.
After being criticized for his failure to run out ground balls over the last couple of weeks, second baseman Robinson Cano suffered an injury hustling down the first base line. Cano ended up straining his left quad during Wednesday’s victory over the Nationals.
Team doctors assessed him post-game and determined that Cano would require at least one week to heal up. As a result, he has been placed on the 10-day IL.
It is expected that Adeiny Hechavarria and Luis Guillorme will handle second base duties in Cano’s absence.
Unfortunately, the bad news does not end there. Jeff McNeil (hamstring) will be joining Cano on the IL.
McNeil left last Thursday’s game vs. Washington Nationals with an abdomen injury, but returned on Saturday vs. the Miami Marlins.
The Mets spark plug sat out Wednesday’s game hoping that some rest would improve his left hamstring. This was not the case and he will be sidelined for the next week-and-a-half.
With fellow outfielders Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo also on the IL, this will mean more at-bats for Juan Lagares, Carlos Gomez and Wednesday’s hero Rajai Davis.
Despite not arriving at Citi Field until the third inning on Wednesday, Davis hit a pinch-hit three-run home run in the eighth inning for the final runs of the night.
The Mets will go for the four-game sweep of their NL East rival on Thursday. Steven Matz (3-3, 3.96 ERA) toes the slab against RHP Stephen Strasburg (4-3, 3.32 ERA).
